Abiyoyo
"Abiyoyo" is Episode 10 in Season 4. It originally aired on July 4, 1986. Synopsis The episode begins with a clip of Lionel Richie's music video, "All Night Long". LeVar, who is in the show's studio today, welcomes the viewers by telling the story about a street party getting together. Music videos have a way of performing an old art--telling stories with words, pictures, and music. We take a long at some clips from other storytelling music videos, including "Love Is the Seventh Wave" by Sting, "Head over Heels" by Tears for Fears, and "Who's Johnny" by El DeBarge. In this episode, LeVar is going to hit the viewers with stories told with music. The first one is performed by rap group Run DMC from Queens. Rap is a kind of street poetry. Their music video tells the story about their life. Different kinds of books can be used for storytelling like the title one. It's a story you can sing. Pete Seeger, the author and a popular folk singer, is with LeVar talking about how he got the idea for writing it. Many years ago, he sang a lullaby to his children. They didn't want to sleep and pestured him by crying out, "No, no, we want a story." To him, children look at lullabies as "propaganda" songs. And so, he adapted the tale from a South African lullaby and folk story. He tells, and sings, it while playing his banjo. LeVar says he likes the disappearing part best. Pretty soon, Pete himself disappears from the studio. Folk stories and music videos tell their stories with words and music. Other music stories can be told without using any words at all, just movements. A group is performing a dance that tells a familiar story. Dance is a great way to tell stories because the body expresses a lot of movement and feelings. The group is working on the story of Beauty and the Beast. They talk about the way of how the characters use movement to express the emotions. The hands are also important to show how the characters in the story feel. Costumes are also important for it. When it is performed for everyone to watch, it's really magical. LeVar says that music stories and without words can still tell a story if you dance on the right moves and that dance and story songs are some of the ways to tell musical stories. But you can also make up your own stories by listening to music that has no words or pictures. As you do so, you just let your imagination make up the pictures for the music. We take a look at an animation of what two people saw in their minds when they heard a piece of music. Before the closing credits roll, we hear another rap from Run DMC. It focuses on the subject of books. There's lots of fun to find in them. LeVar recommends the viewers to find one they can get into, preferably one with a good beat. A techno version of the Reading Rainbow theme is played during the closing credits. Review Books *Blackberry Ink *Ayu and the Perfect Moon *Peter and the Wolf Category:Season 4 Category:Episodes